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Joseph Nicephore Niepce

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Inventor

The Resume

    (March 7, 1765-July 5, 1833)
    Born in Chalon-sur-Saône, France
    Adopted the name Nicéphore in honor of Saint Nicephorus
    Served in the French National Guard (1788-1792) and French Revolutionary Army (1792-1794)
    Administrator of Nice (1974-1795)
    Inventor of the pyréolophore, the world's first internal combustion engine, (1807) and photography, called heliography back then (1816)
    Coined the term velocipede when referring to his improved version of the Laufmaschine, the ancestor of the bicycle (1818)
    Created oldest surviving photograph 'View from the Window at Le Gras' (ca. 1826-27)
    Died in Saint-Loup-de-Varennes, France

Why he might be annoying:

    It was rumored that he was unpopular with the people of Nice, which contributed to his resignation as its administrator.
    His experiments on photography were slow because it wasn't his primary interest despite the influence it would have on future generations.
    He couldn't gain a lot of profit from his inventions because of his brother Claude's mismanagement of funds and the later improvements of his inventions by other people.
    His contributions were largely forgotten after Louis Daguerre improved photography in the form of daguerreotypes. (1939)
    You can blame him for the eventual emergence of the paparazzi and selfie.

Why he might not be annoying:

    His family fled the French Revolution because his father was a wealthy lawyer, making him a target of the Reign of Terror.
    Inventing photography has allowed people to take pictures of real things if they can't draw well.
    The velocipede eventually gave way to the bicycle, a vehicle that provides easy transport for many people.
    A prize named after him has been annually awarded since 1955 to professional photographers who have lived and worked in France for 3 years.
    A crater on the moon is named after him.

Credit: Big Lenny


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 6 Votes: 16.67% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 8 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 7 Votes: 42.86% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 7 Votes: 57.14% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 37 Votes: 51.35% Annoying